Zika: More than 2,500 babies born with microcephaly in Brazil, WHO predicts

By the Washington Post

March 22, 2016

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it expects Brazil will have more than 2,500 babies born with a severe birth defect known as microcephaly if current trends continue in the Zika virus outbreak.

Data from Brazil, the epicenter of an epidemic that has hit more than three dozen countries and territories in the Americas, show that about 39 percent of 2,212 investigated cases of microcephaly are already confirmed for the rare congenital condition. To date, that's 863 babies born with the characteristic abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains, WHO detailed at a news conference in Geneva.